Visual determinants of the leftward cradling bias: a preliminary report

A dominant leftward cradling bias is typically found in women in non-feeding interactions with infants. The present study investigated Manning and Chamberlain's (1991) claim that the perception of an infant, or doll, in the left visual field was critical for the establishment of this cradling preference. A leftward bias, of similar magnitude to that shown in previous studies, was shown in a sample of undergraduate female students when their left eye was not occluded, and in imagery. Unexpectedly, the cradling bias was not significantly affected by left eye occlusion. Paradoxically, a group of males, who showed no clear lateral bias, were strongly affected by eye occlusion. A strong leftward cradling bias was also found in the blind. These data do not support the suggestion (Manning & Chamberlain, 1991) that visual information is a primary determinant of the leftward cradling bias.